Farmfoods has more supermarkets than Waitrose, a yearly turnover of more than one billion pound and is the UK’s second-biggest frozen food retailer behind Iceland – and yet, until recently, many would be hard-pressed to name it.
But now, the budget store – which has 340 locations across the UK – has become an unlikely haven for middle-class mothers in pursuit of a bargain amid the cost-of-living crisis.
These days, a whole host of British shoppers – and social media ‘mumfluencers’ to boot – are now supplementing their posh food hauls from M&S and Waitrose with deals from Farmfoods.
Unlike its more expensive competitors, the store doesn’t offer mums a café for a pastry and coffee, has no shop windows for browsing, doesn’t subscribe to a loyalty scheme and has a limited advertising budget when compared to its rivals.
Yet a quick scroll on the Scottish brand’s Instagram, or a look on X, showcases its growing popularity, especially with parents looking for a bargain on their favourite middle-class items, like Greek Feta Pasta salads and salmon fillets.
‘My local shopping haunt has Farmfoods, M&S, Lidl and Aldi in the same shopping park and a Tesco Extra just up the road. I use all of them,’ wrote one person online.
An influencer agreed, saying: ‘Went for one thing and left with EVERYTHING ! @farmfoodsukofficial have the most banging offers! All stocked up and ready to get cooking.’
Others complimented the store’s juice and snacks, as well as its award-winning salads and frozen vegetables, fruit and chicken.
For those not already fans of Farmfoods, shoppers will no doubt be surprised to learn that all sorts of ‘middle class’ favourites are on offer. So, what can you buy from your local store?
Items available include frozen salads like Superfood Chicken Salad, Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad and Greek Feta Pasta Salad, priced at three for £6 or six for £10.
The salads – highly praised online by shoppers – came out top in the 2025 Grocer New Product and Packaging Awards.
There’s also 1kg packs of Wild Salmon fillets for £9.99 (or two for £15) and four-packs of Signature Sockeye Salmon for £3.99.
The frozen meat section, meanwhile, includes chicken breasts, chicken tikka, BBQ ribs, whole legs of lamb and branded items like Richmond sausages.
Tubs of Ben & Jerry’s for £1.99, frozen shortcrust and puff pastry, king prawns and toffee and vanilla ice creams are also available.
But it’s not just frozen deals that the store offers – there’s also bargains on the likes of Yankee candles and Garnier hair products.
Taking to the comments of Farmfoods’ Instagram posts, one customer wrote: ‘Farmfoods literally saved me and my family, the prices are so much cheaper than Tesco and Asda and there’s such a variety of different foods and sweets!
‘I’m so grateful that there’s a Farmfoods literally five mins in the car away from me! The staff are really nice as well.’
One shopper, meanwhile, recently told The Daily Mail how she got herself out of £30,000 of debt – and a Farmfoods tip helped.
She explained: ‘Loyalty cards are good, but nothing beats a super-cheap supermarket. I admit, I once turned my nose up at Farmfoods and Iceland – but frozen food works out a great deal cheaper than fresh, even if you factor in the electricity needed to preserve it.
‘I buy my tins, teabags, condiments and frozen fish and veg at Farmfoods now, and am also amazed by its stock of healthy nuts, seeds, tinned beans and pulses and even boxes of medjool dates. It’s the middle-class shopper’s secret.
‘Other bargain stores such as B&M and Home Bargains sell reduced fresh and packaged food too, and the satisfaction of saving up to £30 per shop really does beat the joy of Waitrose.’
Another person on social media revealed how they’d go to M&S for wine and treats but Farmfoods for juice and snacks, as well as Aldi for the ‘basics’.
‘Some of the frozen fruits are better than shopping fresh,’ added another delighted customer.
Farmfoods, with 340 stores compared to Waitrose’ 329 (although the latter brand does have a further 45, smaller, convenience branches in the UK), is owned by Eric Herd.
The 53-year-old and his brother Gordon, 51, inherited the chain from their father and have built it up from 31 stores in 1988.
Farmfoods is based in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, and in 2009 Herd embarked on an overhaul of his stores in an attempt to attract more middle class shoppers.
Garish colours were removed and countryside scenes added to marketing boards and shop signs.
